As I view and mentally absorb these memories, I can’t help but feel an appreciation for my parents for what they’ve done for me and my siblings (all six of us!) throughout my life. Even when they had very humble beginnings, it’s astonishing to take note of all that they worked for and all of their own pursuits they cast aside in order to give their children a better life. Every birthday party, every assist in a late-night school project, every little excursion or family trip… they were certainly labors of love.

This is the time of year where we all take an extra day (though it’s certainly not enough time) to tell both mom and dad all that they mean to us. We’ll get to dad in just a few weeks’ time, but with it being early May, we feel it’s appropriate to salute all of the matriarchs that undeniably are the most important cog in the family machine.

Today, we celebrate Mom.

Woodloch just celebrated its 63^rd anniversary in April, so this is always the time of year that we can’t help but to think of our founders and the uphill battle they faced to make Woodloch the success that it is today. In 1958, a young couple named Mary and Harry Kiesendahl purchased 12 acres of land and a boarding house on Lake Teedyuskung for $45,000. This, of course, was our own humble beginning!

While Harry put everything he could into his business through relentless hard work and discipline, Mary Kiesendahl represented the true “heart” of Woodloch. From the moment guests called to make their reservations in the early days, through the time they had to pack up the car and begin the long journey home, “Aunt Mary” was the pioneer of Woodloch’s trademark hospitality. Whether she was handling the company books or leading the dining team through another meal service, Mary’s heartwarming smile and genuine kindness were the first steps in making guests “feel like company in our own home.”

Even more impressive, Mary managed to juggle her resort responsibilities while taking care of three kids of her own. A young John, Nancy and Steven always managed to keep things interesting, to say the least! “My mother was all about love, and bringing people together,” says John Kiesendahl. “It all came together well- love and work.” She even took time to volunteer at our local hospital’s auxiliary board.

“She greeted people at the door, knew all the birthdays and celebrations, and balanced my grandfather in so many ways,” says Bradley Kiesendahl, Woodloch’s 3^rd generation president. Knowing little details about all of our guests were instrumental in the family feeling we conveyed. Even when John took over business operations in the 80’s, there was no such thing as “retiring” for Mary. Her love for the guests and friends that she made over the years couldn’t stop her from being a fixture in Woodloch’s famous greeting line, as she welcomed familiar faces and first-timers “home.”

While Mary sadly passed away in 2010, her spirit of love echoes in the heart of so many of our social staff. Every year, we still honor a staff member with “The Aunt Mary Award” for exemplary compassion and love that would have made her proud. We think of her every day, in all that she did to make Woodloch the special escape that it has become for so many families.